First announced back in 2010, Richelle Mead's hit book series Vampire Academy is headed to the big screen. Today, Deadline announces that Mean Girls director Mark Waters has signed on to direct the first film in a planned franchise with a cast that now includes Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry and Danila Kozlovski. The title has been amended as well and the first film will now be known as Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters.

The Vampire Academy book series is a coming-of-age, action driven, "paranormal romance" fantasy. It is set in the present day against a hidden universe of vampires, half-humans, alchemy, and magic. The series centers on a strong, yet flawed, 17-year-old female who confronts her world with grit, determination, and lots of moxie. Rose Hathaway is a dhampir, half human/half vampire and guardian of the Moroi, a race of peaceful and magical mortal vampires who can walk in the daylight, survive by feeding off willing blood donors, grow old and die. Hidden deep in the forests of Montana is St. Vladimir's Academy, where Moroi and dhampirs learn to take their place in Moroi society. Rose must master her inherited abilities as a dhampir and earn the approval of the Royal Council, as guardian to Princess Lissa, her best friend and sole heir of one of the twelve Royal families of Moroi. Rose and Lissa share a mysterious psychic bond and sense of destiny, but first they must survive an intense social scene, politics and the physical challenges of Moroi life at the Academy. Outside the sanctuary of St. Vladimir's waits their greatest threat of all, the Strigoi, a race of bloodthirsty immortal vampires and predators of the Moroi.

Deutch, who stars in the upcoming Beautiful Creatures, will play Rose with newcomers Fry as Lissa and Kozlovski as Dmitri.

Susan Montford, Don Murphy, Deepak Nayer and Michael Preger will produce with Stuart Ford executive producing.



(Photo Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / WENN.com)